


His Princess

by joanneswriting



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Banri has a very dirty mouth, Gen, Spoilers for Act 2, banri stops himself though, very brief mentions of gore, will add with more chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23801884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joanneswriting/pseuds/joanneswriting
Summary: Love comes in the most mysterious ways.
Kudos: 14





	1. does no one listen to him in this household?!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this offers as a moodlifter to everyone during these times, especially to my fellow a0 readers because damn Chapter 10 was intense. 
> 
> Many thanks to ghost (@nyaa_gumi) on twitter for giving me more ideas for this!! [Check out the cute accompanying art (and artist!)](https://twitter.com/nyaa_gumi/status/1251753599979274240)

“Oi, what the f-”

“Language, Banri. Mom and Dad are downstairs.” His sister sighed in greeting from his bedroom door. He scoffed in his usual haughty tone, who was she to ruin his gameplay by her mere presence? He was contemplating on ways to get her to leave him alone before realizing something was off with what she said. In fact, her presence alone- “Whaddya mean, ma and pops, and you!? Everyone’s here?” 

“Dinner’s in fifteen, but I need to talk to you now. Downstairs.” It seemed she knew what he was thinking and avoided any chances of Banri being able to talk back at her, which was all the better, he realized. If he did say anything, his sister would just whoop his ass and their parents would agree with whatever reasoning she’ll give, even if it was something ridiculous as “his clothes are wrinkly”. 

_Might as well get this over with._

True enough, he smelled a homemade dinner wafting through the air as soon as he got out of his room, and from the contrast of the dark hallway and brightness of the lights downstairs, it was already nighttime. Weird, he was pretty sure he came back from the skating rink just half an hour ago when it was still bright outside…. 

“Banri!” A voice called out, catching him off-guard. Jeez, he almost missed a step there…! He was about to call out whoever that was for the near accident when he realized it was his mom’s voice, who was now chatting him up a storm once she saw her son. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you. Eh, you grew out your hair? Let me see how it looks on you!”

“Hi, ma.” Banri mumbled as he hurried his pace and sneaked a glance to the pot beside them. Looked like some kind of stew, but the smell was something new. Probably a spice? “How was the trip?” His mother sighed wearily before giving him a signal to come closer to her height, “Tiring, that’s what you get from a connected flight, but the company finally struck a deal with the investor, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.” He felt her hand tracing his cheek before feeling a sharp sudden pain on his left ear. “OI, OW!”

“Another piercing, Banri? I told you one only, so high up too, it looks unprofessional…. And don’t you dare ‘oi’ me!” He heard a sharp clucking leaving his mom’s tongue and suddenly felt a cold, sinking feeling in his stomach. Shit, was that dread? It’s been a while since he felt that. He wanted to kick his own ass back to five minutes ago, having forgotten to remove his piercings was such a noob move. He must’ve been shocked enough to find out both his parents and sister were home to forget a detail. 

“Chill, ma.” He straightened his back and flashed her a smile, “I remove my piercings when I go to school anyway.” No he doesn't, he just hides it behind his hair. If he does decide to go to school. What she doesn’t know wouldn’t hurt anyone. She flashes him a half-hearted glare before smiling, “Okay, okay. Just be responsible. The table’s set, your father ran to the convenience store for who knows what, and your sister is waiting for you in the living room. Now shoo, I have to cook!” She pushed him out of her range as he saw from a distance his sister tapping her foot impatiently, with a crease on her forehead starting to become more noticeable. He chuckled and snuck up behind the couch before pulling on her hair, pretty similar to when she was still a high school student lying on the couch and he was just a wee little kid wanting to catch her attention and talk to her about some new thing he learned or an award he got. 

And of course, who could forget the instant headbutt he’d get as an answer? Only this time, instead of her ignoring him crying through the pain after, she just said, “I’m not in the mood. Sit down.” He felt his eyes roll before sitting a distance away from her, “You’re never in the mood. When are ya gonna accept that?” 

This was when the ignoring came in as she merely leaned to her side on the couch and shuffled through… something, that’s for sure, when he heard notification ding from his phone. She’ll probably take a while with whatever that was, so he opened his phone and checked what alerted him before leaning back on the sofa to get comfortable, which was apparently a video challenge some classmate tagged him in. Alright, he’ll have it posted later, so what was it about.... He suddenly felt something drop on his lap. Something heavy on a certain area…. And DEFINITELY something moving?!

“Get it off me!” He hissed at his sister, feeling himself stiffen up in alarm a few moments before it finally registered in his mind what the intrusive thing exactly was. “Get the damn cat off me, hag!” 

“Funny you say that, the cat’s a ragdoll.” His sister had the nerve to chuckle with whatever the hell she found so funny before explaining, “Specifically, your cat’s a ragdoll. Congrats, Banri.”

“HA?!” Was this how a short circuited mind felt like? He really can’t come up with anything to say back at her, which was rare because he usually can, not to mention all that was crossing his mind was what the fu-

“Mom, Banri has a cat now!” His sister skipped happily towards the kitchen announcing what seemed to be happy news but… didn’t it suddenly seem harder to breathe? And where was that shaky sensation coming from? And, what the hell was the damn cat moving around for?! He glanced down on his lap and saw that the fleabag was stretching. “Don’t have time for this shit.” He grumbled before screaming to the kitchen, “MA, SHE FORCED THE CAT ON ME! I DON’T WANT IT!” Banri picked the cat, no, kitten up, set it on the coffee table, and dashed to the kitchen to see the two women laughing together at something his sister had on her phone. “Ma,” he growled in annoyance, which caused them to look at him, unfortunately still with smiles on their faces. “Banri, the kitty is adorable! What are you gonna name her?” 

“What?! I’m not gonna name it, I don’t want it!” He felt his head throbbing from everything’s that happened, can anyone up above give him some meds for it alongside patience to not murder his sister right now? 

**_OH SHE JUST GAVE HIM A SHIT-EATING GRIN-_**

“How about Nehime? Y’know, cat princess.” His sister suggested, ignoring his complaints. 

“That’s a good idea! It fits her image perfectly.” 

“IT ISN’T IF I DON’T-”

“Banri!” A booming voice resounded from the living room, which was where he last left the cat. His father immediately came into view, his stern disposition in his office outfit a complete opposite to the wide-eyed cat he cradled in his one hand, a small grocery bag on the other. “You left your kitten in the room. Did you give her a name already?” 

He can barely hear the squeal his mom let out when she excitedly rushed over to her husband to share the name they agreed upon as his mind replayed his dad’s words with horror.

**_your kitten your kitten your kitten your kitten your kitten-_ **

He suddenly felt someone clapping him on the back, “Take care of her, Banri. I wouldn’t have been able to because of my work.” He glanced at his side and saw his sister, the conniving little bitch, smile up at him before dodging his hand that was supposed to grab at her hair. Their parents didn’t notice the exchange as his mom cheerfully announced, “Let’s have dinner!”


	2. and they were roommates

“Fucking hell,” he jumped on his bed, “why did pops have to think it was mine….” 

“Nya.” 

That was the first time he heard it. Really high-pitched, it really was just a kitten. He glanced to the floor and the cat was staring at him with its huge blue eyes. “That’s creepy as hell.” He commented before opening his phone to play his mobages. His best girl was waiting and he was in the middle of an event before everything happened. The background music he came to grow fond of was blaring in his headphones made him feel more relaxed. 

“Nya.” Nevermind, the stress was back. 

“Whaddya want?” He glared at the cat, which only stared back in turn. Of course the cat won’t talk back, so he listed all the things a living being needed to function. Food, check. Water, check. Poop….

Shit, he’d have to set up a cat’s toilet or something. But the bed was so warm, and he’s already comfortable in his position. 

“Nya.” The cat crept closer to him, but was still a few feet away from him on the floor, its white fur only making it stand out more against the darkness of the room. Though now that Banri stared longer at it, its blue eyes were glowing against the dark as well. 

“Again, creepy.” He commented once again before reluctantly standing up and opening the lights. He’d rather take care of a cat than come back to his room smelling like shit, so he had to will himself to look for its litter box among the things his sister left for the cat. Thankfully, there was an instructions manual on the back of the box, so he was able to easily assemble it in a far corner of his room. 

“Super ultra easy mode once again,” he yawned before checking where the cat went. It was now sitting on the top of his dresser where his perfumes were placed. “Oh nah ah,” he groaned before lifting the cat and settling it on top of the litter box. “Ya ain’t destroyin’ my stuff. Take a dump or somethin’.” 

“Nya.”

For the first time in his life, Banri wished he could talk to cats. 

“Don’t this take some trainin’...?” He mumbled to himself as he whipped his phone out and googled how this all taking care of a pet works, the threat of having a smelly room by morning haunting him. 

“So sis said you’re a ragdoll….” 

Banri only got to bed past 4:30 AM, considering he trained the cat and had to play his almost-forgotten mobages. Good thing he usually leaves home early as a way to have a quiet morning so his parents wouldn’t bother looking for him, and he still had enough days to be confident enough he could stay at home and sleep in today. If only whatever the damn hell covering his face would leave him alone. 

“Nya.” Of fucking course.

“Too early for this....” He mumbled as he picked up the cat by the scruff, but was woken up by a sudden pain on his finger. 

“Hey, ow, shit! What was that for?!” His eyes suddenly flew wide open to see what was done only to find that the cat was now biting his finger. “You have food for fuck’s sake!” He shook his finger so that it would let go, and he could inspect the damage done. He shooed the cat towards the floor and looked at his finger, only to see small droplets of blood falling from the two holes the cat was able to puncture through his skin. “Damn, can’t think…” He grabbed for the tissues by his nightstand and wrapped his finger with it, only to remember something quite important in this situation. He quickly looked for the cat who was now lying down on its back facing him. “You better hope you were vaccinated or I’m throwing you out.”

“Nya.” 

Life is not daijoubu. 

Here Settsu Banri was, running on less than 4 hours of sleep, coffee in a tumbler, wearing the most decent clothes he could find at the time (a slightly stretched out shirt and shorts), researching the nearest animal clinics in his area, with the cat in its cage, and about to head outside. The neighborhood was still quiet, so it really was a pain to wake up at such an ungodly hour. He already found one clinic that was open when his phone screen changed into a caller ID. 

“What?” He came out a bit more gruff than usual, but whoever was on the other end of the call better know they’re messing with the wrong person right now.

“How was the first night with Nehime?”

“Your damn cat-”

“Nuh uh, that’s your kitten now.”

“I didn’t want it in the first place. Look, I need sleep but the damn cat bit me and now I have to go to a fucking clinic to make sure I don’t get rabies or somethin’. So, b-”

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you that Nehime is already vaccinated?” 

“....”

“And trained. Huh, did I?”

_“...Fuck you.”_

“HEY, WHAT WAS-” 

He dropped the call before he could say something he’d regret. “Change of plans, I’m going back to bed.” He opened the door to the cage and the cat immediately jumped out, landing gracefully. “You better eat while I sleep…” 

After giving her enough food, he slept for the rest of the day, the tissues around his finger forgotten. 

It’s been more than a week since Nehime was taken care of by Settsu Banri, and he’d pretty much accepted that the kitten wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The only upside he could see in this situation was that the cat wasn’t as active as a dog, yet also wasn’t exactly prissy as a cat. A healthy mix of the two. He’d read up online that it was just the typical demeanor of ragdolls, but oh well. As long as she wasn’t making such a huge fuss and didn’t ruin too much of his free time, he’s fine with becoming roommates with the cat. 

Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have called in the shots so quick. 

“Oi, Nehime, where’re you? Ya gotta eat.” He called out, her dish in his hand. Hmm, she was usually by his side whenever he’s at home, practically locking herself up with him if it was the weekend. Was she becoming more comfortable that she’s started looking around the house? Maybe he shouldn’t have gamed all afternoon…. 

He set the pet dish down on the floor and called out, “Nehime? Nya?” 

Wow, new low Banri, mimicking Nehime’s noises just to get her attention. But then, Nehime usually had her attention on him, so it was normal to be concerned….

_Right?_

“Bathroom, kitchen, living room, hallway….” Banri muttered to himself as he headed to the first listed destination, silently hoping this wouldn’t take long as there was an annoying itch settling in his stomach and he wanted to get this over with so he could figure out what it was. 

The bathroom was cat-free. 

The kitchen was cat-free.

The living room was cat-free.

The hallway leading to the bedrooms was cat-free. 

“I didn’t sign up to play hide n’ seek right now.” Banri complained, leaning on the stair railway to catch his breath. The feeling in his stomach rose up to his chest, and he noticed his hands were starting to slightly shake. It was annoying as fuck, and it certainly wasn’t helping him concentrate on what’s in front of him, as his mind apparently preferred to give him scenarios a little too vivid for his taste about the possibilities of the kitten’s state right now. 

None of them were pretty with Nehime’s shiny white fur matted, mussed up and splattered with-- 

A narrow, sharp sting to his forehead brought him out of his thoughts. One of his hands was brought up to where he felt the pain throbbing right now, and he’s pretty sure the skin there was starting to redden from the slap. 

“Da’fuck was that….” He glanced to the door in front of him, black against the solid white wall, contrasting the familiar banged up front of his own bedroom door a little ways to the former’s right. 

Maybe she’s in his parents’ bedroom? It wouldn’t hurt to check. 

….

….

Cat-free. 

He slammed the door shut and ran downstairs, only realizing what he’d been feeling for the past hour was worry intensifying into something else, the cold now also claiming his legs and head. The last time he felt this was when he tried to run away all those years ago, when he realized what a shitty move it was for a 5? 6-year old? who brought nothing to help himself against the uncaring world.

He remembered his mom telling him what he felt at that time was panic. 

And he was certainly feeling it now. 

“Goddammit! Nehime, where are ya?!”

**Author's Note:**

> I never had a cat in my entire life so this might be inaccurate, but I just want soft Banri with a pet cat. This is all thanks to that one fanart by kashiiiwan on twitter where Banri had his dogsona on his lap while playing with his Switch but my stupid ass thought it was a cat.


End file.
